If I Were a Boy, I'd Make Logical Fallacies

 

If I were a boy, even just for a day, you would realize the statement highlighted in yellow is a fallacy of confusing cause and effect. Beyoncé states in the song "you don't care how it hurts until you lose the one you wanted 'cause you're taking her for granted" in which she assumes the statement in parenthesis is caused by this same statement. She assumes that the guy does not care about how much he is hurting the girl throughout the relationship until it is too late. Another statement, the one highlighted in red, is a sweeping generalization. She assumes that every guy acts in a similar manner in the relationship as this guy does in this highlighted section. This is done throughout the song. In an analysis on this song, one blogger writes "she also finds that most guys do not care whether or not their significant others are suffering because of their actions." This is yet another sweeping generalization as well as a harsh generalization.  Beyoncé is able to get this point across through the use of pathos, especially with the aid of her music video where you see images of the pain she and the guy are going through when they switch shoes. She also uses it through phrases of "I'd listen to her, because I know how it hurts." Here she relates to her audience understanding the pain they feeling and creating a bond. Beyoncé is able to create a very good argument with empowerment, even through her logical fallacies.

If I were a boy even just for a day
I'd roll out of bed in the morning
And throw on what I wanted and go
Drink beer with the guys
And chase after girls
I'd kick it with who I wanted
And I'd never get confronted for it
'Cause they stick up for me

If I were a boy
I think I could understand
How it feels to love a girl
I swear I'd be a better man
I'd listen to her
'Cause I know how it hurts
When you lose the one you wanted
'Cause he's taking you for granted
And everything you had got destroyed

If I were a boy
I would turn off my phone
Tell everyone it's broken
So they'd think that I was sleeping alone
I'd put myself first
And make the rules as I go
'Cause I know that she'd be faithful
Waiting for me to come home
To come home...

If I were a boy
I think I could understand
How it feels to love a girl
I swear I'd be a better man
I'd listen to her
'Cause I know how it hurts
When you lose the one you wanted (wanted)
'Cause he's taking you for granted (granted)
And everything you had got destroyed

It's a little too late for you to come back
Say it's just a mistake
Think I'd forgive you like that
If you thought I would wait for you
You thought wrong

But you're just a boy
You don't understand
Yeah you don't understand, oh
How it feels to love a girl
Someday you wish you were a better man
You don't listen to her
You don't care how it hurts
Until you lose the one you wanted
Cause you're taking her for granted
And everything you had got destroyed
But you're just a boy!

But...Everybody Else is Doing it!

"But moooooooom, everybody else is doing it!" We have all heard this as a stereotypical answer of a teenager to their mother to let them do everything else and be with the in crowd. Zits is showing a good example of the bandwagon fallacy or the appeal to popularity. A lot of time this is accompanied by the phrase "Well if everybody else was jumping off of a cliff, would you do it too?" Another bandwagon fallacy statement. Even the friend in the comic acknowledges that the son needs better foundations for his argument, especially if you want to try to convince a mom to let you do or have something.

Old Spice, Old Fallacies

 

So, a direct quote from the video link is "We're not saying this body wash will make your man smell like a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot, but we are insinuating it." Basically they are saying that this will cause that. If you buy this, then this and this and this will happen. Its both a false cause fallacy as well as post hoc ergo propter hoc. If all of what they said in this commercial was true, I feel like everyone in the world would be buying this product, but sadly it is not.

Helpful Persuasion Techniques

This is very similar to the red paperclip experiment we did earlier this year. It shows how you can start with something small to help then gain something bigger. The foot in the door is very simple technique that anyone can put into practice everyday. If you start with something small first, it is then easier to ask for something larger later or use what you asked for to trade for something larger like in the red paper clip experiment.

Loaded Question

We often hear people bring up loaded questions, or questions where there really is no right answer and you get hurt either way you answer it. I think the dinosaurs above put it best. Often times we will see these in political debates to catch the opponent in a trap where no matter what they say they are screwed. This also leads to things such s "no comment" to try to protect oneself which can, in turn, criminalize them like the T-Rex in the comment. It makes it seem as though they are hiding something. A loaded question just sets them up for failure and makes them prove your point no matter how they answer.

My "Almost" Anecdotal Fallacy

 

With regards to our past debate, I almost put myself in a tight hole with regards to being able to be called out on a fallacy with regards to data that I found. My opponent brought up a bunch of facts regarding to how the legalization of prostitution actually increased rape culture as well as increasing the rates of STD's among women. I had found data from the US when the legislatures of Rhode Island had, by accident, legalized prostitution by actually erasing it from their constitution when they were trying to amend it. They did not catch this for five years and during that time both rape and gonorrhea among women decreased by over 30 percent. When I found this data it seemed too good to be true and seemed to be more false cause and that there was no correlation between the two. This set of data is an isolated example that I used to prove my point. It's still interesting to see if this was just a set of data that happened to fit or an actual correlation.

Mean Girls Make Sweeping Generalizations

 

Mean Girls, A movie littered with stereotypes and generalizations. In this specific scene in the movie Cadie is introduced to the class by the principal welcoming her to America from Africa. Well, Tina Fey, the teacher has never met this student and assumed that the African American student was the new student from Africa rather than the red-headed white girl. This is a good case of a sweeping generalization. This also takes place later on in the movie when one of the plastics makes the statement "Wait, if you're from Africa, then why are you white?" Another sweeping generation. Just because she's white doesn't mean that she cannot be from Africa. This is just one example of a fallacy that occurs in Mean Girls.